Oilers cruise past Canucks in Game 6, push Western 2nd Round to limit

EDMONTON -- Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place on Saturday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 3-3. Game 7 will be in Vancouver on Monday.

“Nothing to be satisfied or excited about. We just bought ourselves another day, and I would expect the same level of urgency and desperation from our group,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who had three assists. “I would expect Vancouver to play a better game as well, and I would expect it to be a highly competitive, great Game 7.”

Zach Hyman scored his NHL-leading 10th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Oilers, who are the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 14 saves in his first start since Game 3.

Nils Hoglander scored, and Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for the Canucks, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific.

“You’re disappointed a little bit, but you know that we are a good bounce-back team,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Our job is we’ve got to flush this game. Some guys know they’ve got to play better, and you’ve got 48 hours to get your energy back. It’s a Game 7. People would kill to be in this situation right now, and we’ve got to make sure that we act like we want to be in that situation.

“Play like you want to be a hero on Monday, that’s what I think.”

Dylan Holloway put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 8:18 of the first period. He took a stretch pass from Leon Draisaitl along the right boards, warded off Elias Pettersson, and split Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek before beating Silovs five-hole.

“They were kind of cheating, thinking that Leo was going to pick up the puck and he did,” Holloway said. “I was able to gain some speed, and he made a nice play to me and I kind of caught their 'D' flat-footed.

“I was happy for that one to go in. It felt pretty good.”

Hoglander tied it 1-1 at 10:03, scoring on his own rebound in front after his initial one-timer was stopped by Skinner.

Hyman put the Oilers back in front 2-1 at 7:14 of the second period. He kicked a pass from McDavid to his stick in the low slot and scored with a shot that fluttered in off the glove of Silovs.

“The more looks you get, just by nature you’re going to score more,” Hyman said. “And I think we did a good job of producing more looks tonight and then capitalizing.”

Bouchard made it 3-1 at 11:20 of the second with a slap shot blocker side from the right point.

“I think those two quick goals, we mismanaged the puck and it just unraveled from there,” Tocchet said. “Edmonton, when they got those goals, especially the second and the third, they built energy.

“You could tell they had a lot of legs and they started dictating play.”

Edmonton outshot Vancouver 14-5 in the second period.

“It’s not the recipe for success,” Pettersson said. “Obviously, we’ve won games with not many shots, but it is what it is.

“They won today. It’s a seven-game series for a reason. I’m excited for it. I know the barn is going to be loud, the fans are going to be into it, and those are the type of games you want to play.”

Nugent-Hopkins pushed it to 4-1 at 3:25 of the third period, tapping a cross-crease backhand pass from McDavid five-hole on Silovs.

Evander Kane then made it 5-1 at 13:04, scoring glove side from the left circle off a face-off win by Draisaitl.

“I guess now we’re going to play seven games and things are going to happen. It’s hard to play seven amazing games,” Hughes said. “If you told us we had this opportunity in September, I think we would have took it and probably would have taken it three or four weeks ago as well. So, we’ll be excited.”

NOTES: Monday will mark the first time two Canadian teams will meet in a Game 7 with a trip to a conference final on the line since 2002, when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators. ... Draisaitl extended his playoff-opening point streak to 11 games (eight goals, 15 assists). He has 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists) in 60 postseason games. Only Wayne Gretzky (46 games) and Mario Lemieux (50 games) have reached the mark in fewer games. ... McDavid has 21 points (two goals, 19 assists) in 11 games. He is the 10th player in NHL history to have at least 20 points in three consecutive postseasons. ... Kane extended his point streak to four games (two goals, two assists).